Every fancy light I’ve ever had — and I’ve had many — either stopped working / charging, got stolen, or has been lost.

Took me a long time to realize the actual best lights are cheap and run on replaceable AA batteries.

I personally like to use really really bright LED lights pointed straight into the eyes of oncoming traffic.

Occasionally an oncoming car will take a swipe, or a cyclist will stop and punch me, but it’s well worth it for the widespread misery I can effortlessly cause.

It also makes it quite hard to see anything that isn’t in my ‘cone of death’, which is good in the same way that peril-sensitive sunglasses are!

Not clip-on lights, but I use the AXA Nox 12S. Bolts directly into my front fork and takes two rechargeable AA’s. No bopping up or down while riding, just stays firmly in place.

It’s a good light for being seen, but won’t really light up a path for you unless it’s pitch black. I have a secondary handlebar-mounted torch that I carry in my bag, just for times where I want an increased viewing distance

I use a Rockbros 2-in-1 rechargeable horn and light that I got from aliexpress. It makes an earsplitting beep when I push the button. This ensures that when a car crushes me under their tires, they will be momentarily confused as to why they hear a smoke detector going off in the second or two before I die.

I use a cheap USB recharageable rear light from Amazon which have worked great and are nice and bright. For the front light those don’t work so well if you need to illuminate the road ahead (rather than just be seen by others). I use a LifeLine pavo 720 lumen light which has been great. I don’t think they sell that particular model any more but something like this is very close.

I’ve been a longtime fan of the Nitecore BR25.

I use it when I expect to be riding at night or during dawn/dusk, so it’s not on my bike all the time. But it performs exceptionally well and the light pattern is just awesome.

It has a piece that reflects light down onto you and your bike, so you’re way more visible to others.

It also uses a removable, USB rechargeable 21700 battery.

I do wish it had longer battery life (I always wish that my stuff had longer battery life!), but it’s still quite good unless you plan to blast it on high for hours on end.

My second favorite is the Olight RN1500, which uses a fixed (Garmin) mount and works great, but has a non-removable battery.

Cygolite metro and some tiny knogs. Really like the set up.

I just recently purchased some lights from Moon sport and have been really impressed by them. They’re a relatively unknown brand, but I found them because it’s 2023 and I refuse to buy electronics without usb-c charging; they’re one of the only bike light companies to offer it on all their products. I specifically went with their Rigel Pro 1000 model for a front light and Helix Pro 150 for a rear light. They’re both exceptionally bright at full power and come with some neat features like intelligent on/off and fully adjustable brightness for every mode. All aluminum bodies make them feel substantial and high quality, plus heat dissipates easier than with plastic housings. The mounting systems are simple but well built and utilize the Garmin-style quick mount which I’ve never had before but are really handy for taking the lights on the go or inside to charge. I haven’t had them long enough to speak about their longevity, but so far I’d highly recommend them (especially for the price compared to similar powerful lights). The only issue I’ve had was shipping took several weeks as the company is based in Hong Kong and anything ordered from their website ships from there (the US specific site does not have any stock currently).

I got these on Amazon and they work nicely on my Domane road bike, they don’t move during the ride.

Gloworm. A less expensive option is magicshine.

Are you doing MTB or road cycling?

I’ve had my Cygolite Metro for years and it has worked pretty well. I used to commute 10+ miles each way for 2-3 years, and I had very little issue with it dropping. Granted, I did make it pretty tight myself and checked it periodically (2-3x/year).

That was on a smooth bike path with very few bumps, so if you’re doing MTB or lots of curb drops or something, you’ll probably have issues. If that’s the case, I’d probably get something mounted to the helmet so it’s always pointed where you’re looking.

Some bikes have a mounting option on the stem (e.g. my Trek bike does), so there may be accessories for that. But anything strapped to the handlebars will misbehave with lots of bumps.

I really like my 900 lumen Nightrider front/rear light combo pack that I got from REI for $150USD or less.

Easy to attach/take off the bike (crucial to avoid theft while locking up in town), battery life is decent and doesn’t wobble when I hit bumps. Just gotta make sure.youre familiar with the “lock” function; it keeps the light from accidentally turning on in your bag. I forgot about it and thought my light broke so ended up spending like $113 USD on a light with 1100 lumens (i wanted 900 but it wasnt availabl) that jumps around a bunch and I HATE IT. Then I looked it up online 6 months later and figured out my night rider works after all! Lol

I just looked it up and it seems like niterider has changed their design and uses the same attachment piece as cygolite now (the light I hated). It’s probably user error but it barely fits around my Salsa Cowchipper handlebars. I think I had to take off the anti scratch cushions to make it work. Hopefully that’s not an issue for you.

I use front and rear lights from MECs (Mountain Equipment Co-Op in Canada, similar to REI) in-store brand. They’re not super bright, but they’re bright enough so I can see where I’m going in random dark spots and generally be visible at night.

These ones. Though it doesn’t look like the rear (red) lights are available any more.

• Bocialarka Convoy S2+ - the best prize/features ratio - main headlight
• CatEye AMPP500 - additional headlight, in blink mode
• CatEye Omin 3 red - rear, in random mode
• OEM weak static LED front+rear